Today is the day, Star Wars:The Old Republic has converted from a subscriber only to a freemium game. Official patch notes have not yet been released, I will update this posting once the official notes are released.
What does that mean for the new player? With an entirely free account, meaning you never get tempted to purchase anything from the Cartel Shop, here are the restrictions and benefits you can expect:
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Benefits:
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Class and side quests, outside of restricted flashpoints, warzones and operations, are available
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No level cap
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Cover Bar is included for Imperial Agents and Smuggler characters at no charge
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All races and classes are available for play
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Restrictions:
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2 quick bar slots only (game is a little inconvenient but more than playable)
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2 character slots
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25% experience gain reduction (not the worst thing if you want to complete all heroic quests on a planet and not out level the next planet)
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Cannot equip armor or items above Blue (Prototype) quality
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Limited Quick Travel usage and Field Revival
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Hide head slot, Unify colors, Title display abilities are unavailable
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Guild Bank, if your Guild has a bank, access is unavailable.
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Cargo Hold Access is unavailable
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Crew Skills (crafting) is limited to one
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Credit cap of 200,000 credits – with excess credits going into Escrow which can be accessed only via subscription
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5 Warzones a week
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Slower Crew Skill Advancement when crafting
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48 hours after purchase, items from the Cartel Market are no longer bound
For returning players and those that make at least one purchase from the Cartel Market without a subscription, your account is automatically converted to a Preferred account. Here is a breakdown of the benefits of a Preferred account:
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If you previously earned a Purple (Artifact) quality item AND have it equipped, then that item can be used without restriction.
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Cargo Hold is available
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Limited to 5 Warzones a week
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48 hours after purchase, items from the Cartel Market are no longer bound
Subscribers will see very little change. There are perks and benefits that exist automatically for subscribers:
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Access to an ADDITIONAL two quick bars
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Unlimited flashpoints, operations, and warzones
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No restrictions on equipment and armor
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No experience penalty
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Reduced cost to remove modifications
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No cost to reset skill points
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Speeders and riding can now be purchased at Level 15 without requiring Legacy to unlock
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36 hours from the time of purchase, Cartel Market items are no longer bound to the purchasing character
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A minimum of 500 Cartel Coins earned per month based on the length of your subscription package
A purchase from the Cartel Market in excess of $4.99 automatically switches a player account from free to play to Preferred status. Former subscribers are automatically Preferred members.
General patch notes:
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the quest for HK-51 begins today, requires level 50 to begin
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Weapons are now available for preview
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Color Crystals in the Cartel Market are powerful and reasoning is discussed here -
New World Boss, Dreadtooth, can be found in Section X
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Commendation caps have been increased to 4500 Ranked Warzones and 2750 Warzone Commendations
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Vehicles can now be previewed
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Operation: Explosive Conflict now has a Nightmare Mode available
Overall, the conversion of the game to Freemium is a good thing for the overall health and longevity of the game. I fully expect the first two weeks to a month for the game and gaming press to be full of negative nellies and naysayers.
However, once they have moved on to other games, the overall health of the game should be much improved. Servers should see an increase in population at all times, groups should be easier to get through Group Finder, Warzone should pop up much faster, and the planets should be full.
Do I think it’s going to have long term appeal to gamers that like to sit at end game and bitch and moan for months on end? No I don’t, but then again no game is capable of feeding content fast enough to these type of gamers.
Enjoy SWTOR for the story driven game it is and was always intended to be. Everyone has their favorite story line and companions. If you take you time and enjoy the cut scenes, dialogues, and companion interactions then you too, will find that SWTOR is a game well worth playing.
